hay Summary and Overview

properly so called, was not in use among the Hebrews; straw was used instead. They cut the grass green as it was needed. The word rendered "hay" in Prov. 27:25 means the first shoots of the grass. In Isa. 15:6 the Revised Version has correctly "grass," where the Authorized Version has "hay."

(Heb. chatsir), the rendering of the Authorized Version in #Pr 27:25| and Isai 15:6 of the Hebrew term, which occurs frequently in the Old Testament, and denotes "grass" of any kind. It is quite probable that the modern Orientals do not make hay in our sense of the term; but it is certain that the ancients did mow their grass, and probably made use of the dry material. See #Ps 37:2| We may remark that there is an express Hebrew term for "dry grass" or "hay," viz. chashash, which, in the only two places where the word occurs, #Isa 5:24; 33:11| is rendered "chaff" in the Authorized Version.

HAY , Prov 27:25. We are not to suppose that this word, as used in the Bible, denotes dried grass, as it does with us. The management of grass by the Hebrews as food for cattle was entirely different from ours. It was never dried and stored for winter use, but was cut green as it was wanted; and the phrase "mown grass," Ps 72:6, would be more properly rendered "grass that has just been fed off." So in Prov 27:25 the word translated "hay" means the first shoots of the grass; and the whole passage might properly be rendered, "The grass appeareth, and the green herb showeth itself, and the plants of the mountains are gathered." And in Isa 15:6 "hay" is put for "grass," and "grass" is put for the "green herb." The tenderness of grass, the rapidity of its growth, and the early period at which it is cut down and consumed afford the sacred writers some striking and beautiful illustrations. Ps 103:15; Isa 40:6; Jas 1:11. See Mowings.

The Hebrew has no word for it, chatsir (Proverbs 27:25; Isaiah 15:6) expressing grass as well as hay. For in the hot East the grass becomes hay as it stands; compare Matthew 6:30. It was cut as it was used, and not stacked (Psalm 37:2; Psalm 72:6; Psalm 129:7). Amos 7:1, "the latter growth," is that which springs up after mowing. Chashash (Isaiah 5:24) is not "chaff," but the withered grass. In Isaiah 15:6; Proverbs 27:2, translated "the hay grass."